The renovation of South Orange’s historic Village Hall — now privately owned by Landmark Hospitality Group — has been a long and winding process.
Beginning in 2015, Village Green began reporting on the efforts to turn the former site of local government (and before that a fire house) into a restaurant, catering space and biergarten. In fact, a timeline for the project presented in Fall 2015 initially estimated completion by mid-2017.
Historic designations and permitting, legal hurdles (including a lawsuit brought by a neighboring property owner in 2017) and now COVID-19 have delayed the project, but this morning, South Orange Village President Sheena Collum posted photos and update showing major work at the site. Collum is now predicting an early-to-mid-2021 opening:
Let’s do a status update and a sneaky peak (shhh!)…. Our former municipal Village Hall soon to be restaurant/beer garden/catering hall is back on track and set to complete construction in the first quarter of 2021. The owner has advised that they will look to open shortly after and hopefully once dining restrictions have been lifted. From reimagining what government operations will look like to an adaptive reuse RFP to a purchase/sale agreement then through lengthy litigation from an objector followed by a stop order on nonessential construction due to a global pandemic – – we’ve been through it all! But there’s light at the end of this tunnel and I just can’t wait for us to be together again and raising a glass in a downtown beer garden! 🍻 Here’s some pictures of the work that’s happening right now. Enjoy and Happy Monday!
Photos courtesy of Landmark Hospitality Group:
